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Send a message: donate to the FSF
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:date: 2013-01-18 10:00
:author: Christopher Allan Webber

During the `MediaGoblin campaign
<http://mediagoblin.org/pages/campaign.html>`_, many people came up to
me and said something along the lines of: "You know, I'm really glad
to hear about this campaign.  I've been wanting the FSF to do more
along the lines of helping fund free software projects" and "I'm
really glad to see the FSF returning to more directly supporting
software development again" or otherwise saying they were excited to
see the FSF support some aspect of MediaGoblin that was really
important to them for user freedom reasons (such as engaging free
network services, building infrastructure to help with media hosting
freedom, et cetera).  Maybe you are one of these people!

Well, 2012 has come to a close and 2013 is just beginning, and as with
every year, the FSF has an `annual fundraising drive
<https://my.fsf.org/associate/support_freedom>`_.  This year the FSF's
campaign is titled "Dollars to Decibels", and the implication is that
you should donate to help the FSF continue to speak strongly.  And
that's true; I think the FSF's most important role above all is to be
an ethical leader in the free software movement.  So for that reason
alone, you should `donate to the FSF <https://my.fsf.org/associate/support_freedom>`_!

However, I think the reverse is also true: you should give money to
the FSF not just so they can help send a message, but also to send a
message to the FSF.  If you are one of the forementioned people who
thinks that this is a good direction for the FSF to go in, there's a
powerful way to let them know: donate, and inform them that one of the
reasons you are lending your support is because you think this is a
great direction for the organization to go in.

The FSF did get a 10% cut of the money raised for MediaGoblin's
campaign, and that might sound like a lot, but if you do the math on
43k raised, it's only $4300.00... that's not a bad chunk of change to
get, but it's also nowhere near the annual budget to fulfill the needs
of the Free Software Foundation.  The FSF is a small organization with
limited resources, and it's important for the organization to evaluate
carefully where to put those resources.  By donating and telling them
that you believe this type of work is important, you send two
messages: 1) that this is important to their base of supporters, which
is a good message in and of itself, and 2) that this type of work is
actually itself a way to raise resources, because there is additional
funding brought in by a membership that feels that the things
important to them are being engaged by the organization.

So!  To wrap this up, if that makes sense to you, do the following:
`send in your donation <https://my.fsf.org/associate/support_freedom>`_
to the FSF.  If you're joining as a new member, there's a box on the
form that says why... that's a great place to put that message.  (Oh,
and if somehow I convinced you to join, it would be interesting to
see that... my referral number is #3485.)  Otherwise, if renewing,
doing a one-time donation, or if you've already donated, you can help
by sending an email to `donate@fsf.org <mailto:donate@fsf.org>`_.  I
know they'll be listening!
